Eating Dinner in Front of the TV

Do You Eat Dinner in Front of the TV?

I hate to admit it, but growing up my family kept a TV in the kitchen, and it was always on at dinnertime. During commercials, we'd chat about our days, but while our favorite show was on, we'd watch while we munched. I must say that it was very relaxing to tune out and eat, and the habit stuck with me into college. I'd end up shoveling pizza into my mouth while watching episodes of The Simpsons, and it unfortunately helped contribute to my freshman 15.

Now that I have a family, I make it a point not to have the TV on during dinner. Not only is it a great time to talk and connect after not seeing each other all day, but I find I'm more conscious about how fast I eat and how much. Not eating in front of the TV is definitely one of the tactics I use to help maintain a healthy weight. How about you?

Unfortunately I do, all the time, well it's tv on my computer but still, I guess it's just as bad, if not worse.
Unlike what I read in some previous comments, I have no problem with silence, I actually quite enjoy it, but leaving with my 2 brothers and my mother who don't get on with each other and always find a way to make home a stressful environment, especially in the evening, I find that eating alone with my headphones on while watching tv destracts me from their drama and lets me enjoy my food better, but I totally agree with the fact that one definately pays less attention to what and how they're eating, if I had my own place I would eat in the kitchen, maybe with a bit of music on but nothing else than that to distract me from enjoying my meal :)

When I'm the only one home for dinner, I will either watch TV or read while I eat. Otherwise, dinner time is the only time the family is together to catch up on the day. With a teenager, some nights I think it would be easier just to turn on the TV.

I have a TV where I can see it from my kitchen table, so I always watch TV while eating. I don't really actively watch it, but I like it on in the background. I don't think it necessarily leads to weight gain...it's not if you eat in front of the TV; it's WHAT you eat while you're watching it.

Dang I must be the minority here... I never eat in front of the TV. Growing up we only had one t.v and that was in the family room ... which you could not see from the dining room. I love the conversations my husband and I (and guests sometimes) have at the table. Wouldn't trade that for any t.v show.

My husband and I used to do it before we had a baby... and before my son was eating. But once he was ready for a high chair we started doing dinners at the table, and now it's the rule of the house. We sit down for dinner, everyone stays at the table until the whole family is done eating.
It helps that we only have one TV; having a high def LCD in the living room beats the pants off having small TVs in every room of the house.

I always eat dinner in front of the tv. I live alone, so I think it's different. When I lived with my roommate we would sit down at the table and eat if we were planning on eating at the same time. If I had kids, I would make a point out of eating at the kitchen table every night.

I always eat dinner in front of the TV. I don't really understand how that leads to eating more though - I put my food on my plate when I'm in the kitchen, and then I just eat whatever portion I've already given myself. I don't really feel guilty about it - it's pretty much the only hour of the day where I can just relax.

most of the time, i eat dinner in front of the TV or the computer. when i'm alone, it's quiet and creepy to sit at the dinner table eating in silence! but i much prefer to have dinner sans TV when I have a friend or my boyfriend over. once i have a family, it will be nice to institute TV-less family dinners.

I know that it's supposed to be bad, but eating is pretty much the only time i have to sit down and watch what's on the tv. While it might be on other times, I'm usually running around my apartment doing something and not paying attention. So if there's a show that you have to watch (and not just listen to) I always watch it during a meal.

Yeah, and not just dinner! A lot of meals, actually. Otherwise I feel like I'm wasting my time, what am I supposed to do when eating? And I watch too much tv anyway, it wouldn't be less if I didn't eat when doing it.

Overall, I actually don't watch that much TV, but I do sometimes eat in front of the TV. If not that, I eat while reading. I'm not sure the latter is better than the former. The best is probably to do nothing else while eating, and focus on your food.
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